Thursday, August 29, 2013

With the prevalence of personal computers in the home, it’s little wonder why so many people have taken to desktop publishing. With a computer and a printer, you can create brochures, pamphlets, flyers, posters, booklets, and so much more from the comfort of your home. If you’re a newbie designer or you’re thinking about starting up printing services in Pittsburgh, you should understand the most basic design principles. That way, what you produce and show off to others will appear sleek and professional. There are 4 main principles to remember: contrast, repetition, proximity, and alignment.

Contrast

Make your images pop through contrast. Pair together colors that are distinctly different so each feature will stand out. For instance, pairing neon green with black will catch people’s eyes. Add borders and shadow effects that give your print design more definition and dimension. Incorporating contrast will make any design more memorable.

Repetition

Don’t invite chaos into your design. Instead, use the same elements over and over. For example, if your title is red, color your bullet points red. You may think this is boring, but the average viewer will favor this cohesive look. Repetition will serve to highlight the important parts because it will direct readers where to go. Otherwise, your viewer may just yawn and skim the message you’re trying to send.

Alignment

Your work will look truly put together if you pay attention to alignment. For the most part, you should stick to just one alignment. For instance, your body’s text should be all left aligned. The reader will appreciate this connected look, and you will look more like a professional designer. Multiple alignments will only confuse the reader and make themfeel discombobulated.

Proximity

As most printing services in Pittsburgh understand, to appear cohesive in your design, you must apply proximity. Proximity essentially means grouping items that belong together in the proper hierarchy. If you’re advertising an event, keep the time and date details paired together and create extra space to feature the events of the program in another spot. You’ll also want to order the items of a page in order of importance. For instance, the name of the event should likely be at the top or included at the bottom in large, bold letters.